Kvapil grew up working on cars in his father’s garage, and racing was a natural progression for the Wisconsin native. Kvapil began racing in 1992 at the age of 16 at Rockford Speedway, competing in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. He went on to win the American Short Tracker division track championship in 1994 at Rockford.[2] In 1995, he moved up to super late models at Madison International Speedway, ‘Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile,” and was named the track Rookie of the Year. He also became the track’s Late Model Champion a year later in 1996. This honor made Kvapil the youngest to ever capture the title at the track at the age of 20.

Kvapil moved to the ARTGO Series, a Midwest asphalt short-track motor-racing touring series. He finished in the top-10 in points from 1998-2000.

In 2002, Kvapil managed to match his win total by winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park. He finished the season with 14 top-10s and finished ninth in the final driver points standings.

Prior to the start of the 2004 season, Kvapil began a partnership with Alexander Meshkin to drive the No. 24 Line-X-Benders and eBay Bang! Racing Toyota. Kvapil came away with his first win of the season during the Line-X Spray-on Truck Bedliners 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The win gave Toyota their first win in the top-tiers of NASCAR. Two months later, Kvapil won at New Hampshire International Speedway. The same season, Kvapil won his first Bud Pole Award in the Craftsman Truck Series[10] at the American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway. He finished eight in the final driver standings of the season.

At the end of the 2004 season, Kvapil made his first NEXTEL Cup Series start at Martinsville Speedway. Kvapil drove the No. 06 Mobil 1 Dodge, the fourth car on the track from Penske Racing. He made three additional starts in the #06 in preparation for driving Penske Racing's #77 in 2005.[11] In 2005, Kvapil took over the Penske's #77 Kodak Dodge full-time, replacing Brendan Gaughan.[12] Kvapil scored his first ever Nextel Cup Series top-10 at Brisol Motor Speedway when he finished seventh during the Food City 500.[13] He picked up another top-10 at Phoenix International Raceway during the Checker Auto Parts 500. The two top-10 finishes pushed Kvapil to finish 33rd in the point standings during his first season in the series. When the season ended, the Penske Racing No. 77 team temporarily disbanded when Kodak pulled out of the sponsorship deal.[14][15]

After his departure from Penske, Kvapil signed with PPI Motorsports for the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season. He drove the No. 32 Tide[16] Chevrolet for the 2006 season. He had his best finishes of the season at Kansas Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, where he finished nineteenth in each event.[17][18][19] Kvapil finished the season 36th in points, and was forced to find a new ride for the next season as his PPI contract only lasted one year.[20] PPI eventually shut down after the 2006 due to the inability to find a sponsor to replace Tide. The team also did not have a manufacturer commitment for the 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season.[21][22]

In 2007, Jack Roush, owner of Roush Racing, offered Kvapil a seat in the No. 6 Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Kvapil replaced Mark Martin in the truck, who moved to Ginn Racing, and David Ragan, who was promoted to replace Martin in the No. 6 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.[23][24][25]Jack Roush, excited about signing with Kvapil, said, “We are pleased beyond measure that we were able to get a driver the caliber of Travis Kvapil. At only 30 years old with a Truck championship and two years of Sprint Cup experience under his belt, Travis brings great long and short term potential to and for Roush Racing.” He finished the season with four wins, three poles, eight top-5s and 12 top-10s. He finished the season sixth in the driver point standings. He returned to Roush Fenway Racing as a part-time driver in 2008 when Joey Clanton was released from the No. 09 Ford.[26][27]

Roush recognized Kvapil’s talents, and helped return to Cup with Yates Racing in 2008.[28] Kvapil drove the famous No. 28 Yates Ford Fusion.[29] Prior to the start of the season, Kvapil and teammate David Gilliland did not have full-time sponsorship on their Yates Racing Fords.[30] While Gilliland's team found full-time sponsorship, Kvapil's team had to piece together sponsorship throughout the season. K&N Filters sponsored Kvapil’s team for the Daytona 500.[31] Two weeks later, Kvapil scored an eighth place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the UAW-Dodge 400.[32] The finish at LVMS, which was in an unsponsored car, gave Kvapil his third top-10 of his career. After the race, Zaxby's announced sponsorship for the No. 28 team for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.[33] He finished 29th in the race at AMS. With a one-race sponsorship deal with Northern Tool and Equipment, Kvapil finished in the sixth position at the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.[34][35] The finish gave him his career-best finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kvapil picked up another top-10 finish at Darlington Raceway at the Dodge Challenger 500.[36] Despite the lack of sponsorship for the year, Kvapil collected four top-10 finishes, one pole and finished 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings.[37]

In 2009, Kvapil returned to the No. 28, but the team was forced to close after six races due to lack of funding. Kvapil qualified for several drivers but did not have a full-time ride.

In 2010, Kvapil returned to the seat of a full-time Sprint Cup ride, driving the Long John Silver's Ford for Front Row Motorsports. This car changed numbers throughout the year, using either #34, #37, or #38, depending on each number's position in points (with the goal being to get all three cars in the top-35 for 2011). In 2011, Kvapil returned to FRM driving the now-full-time #38, but signed up to compete for the Camping World Truck Series championship with Randy Moss Motorsports in their #5 Toyota. However, after 10 races Kvapil was released in favor of defending Truck champion Todd Bodine, whose Germain Racing team partnered with RMM to continue running Bodine for 2011. Kvapil stuck with FRM in the Cup Series, driving their #38 for most races, except in several late-season races J.J. Yeley swapped rides with Kvapil several times, with the latter driving FRM's start and park #55.

Leaving FRM after the end of the 2011 season, Kvapil was signed by BK Racing to compete in the Sprint Cup Series for 2012. Kvapil drives the No. 93 Toyota starting with the second race of the year at Phoenix International Raceway with Todd Anderson serving as his crew chief;[38] At Darlington, where David Reutimann drove the No. 93, Kvapil drove the No. 73 for BK Racing, though he drove the No. 93 for the remainder of the season.[39] He also drove for RAB Racing in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series event, replacing the suspended John Wes Townley.[40] Kvapil ended the 2012 season in 27th in the Sprint Cup Series, his second best finish in the points since his debut.

However, in 2013, both Kvapil and BK Racing struggled. Kvapil dropped to 31st in points, recording five top-20 finishes, but 9 DNFs, including five blown engines. The team released Kvapil shortly before the start of the 2014 season.[41]

During 2014 Speedweeks Kvapil announced he had signed to drive in the Sprint Cup Series on a limited basis for Go FAS Racing,[42] as well as in the Camping World Truck Series for MAKE Motorsports.[43] On August 12, it was announced that Kvapil would replace Townley in the No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Toyota for the Truck race at Michigan.[44] Kvapil also ran several late-season races for Circle Sport, tying his best career finish with a 6th place showing at Talladega. Also in the fall, he returned to BK racing to run the #83 car in several races after the team released rookie Ryan Truex. Kvapil was scheduled to attempt to qualify for the 2015 Sprint Cup race in Atlanta, but was forced to withdraw when his car hauler and car were stolen from a hotel parking lot.

On October 8, 2013, Kvapil was arrested by the Mooresville, North Carolina police department following a domestic dispute. Kvapil was charged with assault on a female and false imprisonment, and was released on $1,000 bail.[48] Kvapil was allowed to race in that weekend's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.[49] On January 30, 2014, it was announced that Kvapil had accepted a plea deal in the case, pleading guilty in exchange for having the case dismissed following two years' probation, community service, and attending an anger management class.[50]